The present invention relates to devices for measuring blood characteristics and, in particular, it concerns an apparatus for measuring, or determining, blood characteristics for deployment on a host device having a digital sensor, Central Processing Unit and display.
It is known to provide devices for measuring blood characteristics by passing light through a portion of a living body, such as a human finger tip. Such a device is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/260,251, Finger Deployed Device for Measuring Blood and Physiological Characteristics, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
Such devices, however, are relatively expensive because they are all inclusive and therefore include a housing, light source, a digital sensor, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) and display.
There are numerous consumer devices in use today that include a digital sensor, a CPU and display. Such devices include, but are not limited to, cellular telephone, digital cameras and computers having either a built-in camera or the ability to have a digital camera attached such as by a USB port. Any of these devices therefore, can act as host a device for as apparatus that utilizes the existing digital sensor, CPU and display.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus for measuring blood characteristics for deployment on a host device having a digital sensor, Central Processing Unit and display.